LinkedIn Polls: Options, Limits and Privacy

Most people vote on LinkedIn polls the way they would vote in a room with the lights off. The lights are on.

LinkedIn states that "the author of the poll will be able to view who voted and how each person voted." Not the totals. The individual choice, with your name next to it. If a Page ran the poll, every admin of that Page can see it too.

That is the single most important thing about the feature, and it is worth knowing whether you are voting or running one. This guide covers who sees what, the durations and limits, the difference between devices that trips people up, and what a poll cannot do once it is live.

Who can see your vote

LinkedIn is direct about this: "how you vote is visible to the author of the poll," meaning the person or organization that posted it.

LinkedIn adds a caveat that deserves quoting in full: "while LinkedIn only shares how you vote with the poll author, we cannot guarantee that a poll author will not disclose your vote to others."

One thing that does work in a voter's favor: voting is not published to your profile. LinkedIn confirms that "voting does not show the poll on the Activity section of your profile." How other engagement signals behave is a separate question, covered in LinkedIn reactions.

Duration and the default

Polls run for one of four fixed durations: one day, three days, one week, or two weeks.

The default is one week, and it is the value most people ship without noticing because the dropdown arrives pre-filled. The default visibility is also set to Anyone.

Neither default is wrong, but both are decisions made for you. A one-day poll creates urgency and a two-week poll keeps a post circulating, and picking deliberately is free.

How many options you get, and the device difference

This is where LinkedIn's own documentation disagrees with itself, so here is both halves with dates.

The create-a-poll page says there is "a minimum of two options and a maximum of four options on a poll." That page carries a last-updated date of roughly three years ago.

The polls FAQ, last updated around ten months ago, is more specific: "the number of options depends on the device you're using. On desktop and Android app, you can add up to four options. On iOS app, you can add up to five options."

Treat the FAQ as current, since it is the fresher page and the more specific claim. The practical read is that four options is the safe maximum, because a five-option poll created on iOS is the only place that fifth option exists.

Character limits are firm either way: poll questions are capped at 140 characters and each option at 30.

How to create one

You can create a poll on mobile and desktop, and Page and Group admins can create one directly from the Page or group homepage.

On desktop:

1. Click Start a post at the top of your homepage
2. Click the More icon, then the Create a poll icon
3. Type your question and fill in the options, using +Add option for more
4. Select the Poll duration from the dropdown
5. Click Done
6. Use the dropdown next to your name to choose who you are sharing with
7. Add anything else in the What do you want to talk about? field
8. Click Post

On mobile, tap Post, tap the More icon then Poll, and follow the same sequence.

For Pages, LinkedIn states that "super admins of LinkedIn Pages can create polls," and a Page super admin may also vote on behalf of the Page. Which role you hold decides what you can do here, and the full set is covered in LinkedIn Page admin roles.

What you cannot change afterward

Two hard stops, and they are the reason to read a poll twice before posting.

A poll cannot be edited once created. It can be deleted, which takes the votes and comments with it. We cover the proofreading consequence of that in LinkedIn Post Proofreader, since a poll is the one format where a typo has no fix.

A closed poll cannot be reopened. LinkedIn states plainly that "a poll can't be reopened once it's closed," so the duration you pick is the whole life of the poll.

Voting itself is more forgiving. A member "can submit only one vote on a poll at a time," and if they remove their vote before the poll closes they can vote again.

What you are not allowed to ask

LinkedIn puts explicit limits on the subject matter: "poll authors may not ask for political opinions, health status, or other sensitive data," alongside its standard terms and Professional Community Policies.

Read that next to the visibility rules and the reason becomes obvious. A poll asking about health status is not an anonymous survey, it is a named list of health disclosures sitting in one person's dashboard.

If you see something in your feed that looks like a poll but is not one, LinkedIn notes that brand surveys "resemble LinkedIn Polls" but that "personal information is not shared with the sponsoring advertiser when answers are submitted."

Using polls well

Polls are cheap to make and easy to waste. A few things that follow from the mechanics above:

• Ask something you do not know the answer to. The format rewards genuine disagreement, and the comments are where the value is. A poll with an obvious right answer gets votes and no conversation, which is the same hollow signal engagement pods produce.
• Use the option limit as a discipline. Four choices forces a real question. If you need six, you need a different post.
• Say what you will do with the result. Following up with what the votes showed turns a one-day poll into two posts.
• Never use it for sensitive subjects. Beyond the policy, the author-sees-everything design makes it the wrong tool.
• Pick the duration on purpose. One week is a default, not a recommendation.

Where polls sit against other formats is a separate question with real numbers behind it, covered in the LinkedIn algorithm and in engagement rate benchmarks. Slotting them into a rotation is the job of a content calendar rather than a one-off decision, and polls are not eligible for promotion as thought leader ads if paid amplification is part of your plan.

The honest summary

A LinkedIn poll gives you a minimum of two options and a maximum of four, five on iOS, one of four durations, a 140-character question, and no way to edit or reopen it once it is live.

The part to remember is not a limit but a visibility rule: the author, and every admin of a Page that posted it, sees exactly how each named person voted. Vote accordingly, and run polls accordingly.

FAQ

Can poll authors see who voted on LinkedIn?

Yes. LinkedIn states that "the author of the poll will be able to view who voted and how each person voted," along with aggregate percentages and votes per option. If a LinkedIn Page created the poll, all admins of that Page can see the same individual-level results.

Are LinkedIn polls anonymous?

No. Your vote is visible to the poll author, and LinkedIn adds that "we cannot guarantee that a poll author will not disclose your vote to others." Other voters see only aggregate percentages.

How long can a LinkedIn poll run?

One day, three days, one week, or two weeks. The default in the dropdown is one week.

How many options can a LinkedIn poll have?

A minimum of two. LinkedIn's FAQ states that the maximum depends on the device: up to four on desktop and the Android app, and up to five on the iOS app. An older LinkedIn page gives a flat maximum of four, so four is the safe assumption.

Is there a character limit on LinkedIn polls?

Yes. "Poll questions are limited to a maximum 140 characters and options are limited to a maximum of 30 characters."

Can you edit a LinkedIn poll after posting it?

No. "A poll can't be edited once it's created," though it can be deleted. A closed poll also cannot be reopened.

Does voting on a poll show on my profile?

No. LinkedIn confirms that "voting does not show the poll on the Activity section of your profile."

Can a LinkedIn Page create a poll?

Yes. "Super admins of LinkedIn Pages can create polls," and a Page super admin can also vote on behalf of the Page. Polls created from a Page are visible at the individual-vote level to all admins of that Page.